Welcome to Bimmerfest -- The #1 Online Community for BMW related information! Please enjoy the discussion forums below and share your experiences with the 200,000 current, new and past BMW owners. The forums are broken out by car model and into other special interest sections such as BMW European Delivery and a special forum to voice your questions to the many BMW dealers on the site to assist our members!

Hi all,
We've got an '06 X3 with a non-functional drivers side seat heater. No activity when the button is pressed. No lights, no heat, nothing.
The passenger side works fine... Fuses are all good.
Any ideas where to start looking?

Yes, its the heating pad itself. They are notorious for breaking the little wires and causing things like small fires and burning your butt, and (best) not working at all. The whole seat element under the seat cover needs to be replaced with a new one. Lots of problems with these units, just like the sunroofs and window drive dogs. Check out the "Seat heater catches fire !!!!" thread here.

bummer... My wife was excited about heated seats. I can't figure out why though; it never gets cold in Houston...
Are the seat bottoms interchangeable? I mean, could I swap the driver and passenger seat-bottom covers?
From what I've seen on the part cost, buying a new seat is not an option I'm willing to consider.

You don't have to buy a new seat, just the heating element pad beneath the seat cover. Any quality auto uhpolstery shop can obtain and install this for you at a substantial savings over the BMW dealer's -- who would probably job it out to a similar shop anyway.

Are the seat bottoms interchangeable? I mean, could I swap the driver and passenger seat-bottom covers?

The occupancy sensor mat in the passenger seat would complicate that plan.
Not sure how it sits in relation to the seat heater, but best not to disturb either of those sensitive components if they are presently working properly.

My understanding is the heating element part is sewn on the under pad, or replaces the stock underpad ,and the seat cover was installed over that. Check with any quality auto uhpolstery shop and they can give you a quick answer and a quote over the phone. I'll bet they do a lot of this kind of work.